Debates over ACA policies have come to a head with the GOP in charge of Congress and the White House, but bipartisan support for moving away from fee-for-service models has held relatively steady.

Advocates of value-based payment reform breathed a sigh of relief this week when CMS announced a new bundled payment model — a year into a Trump administration that has otherwise set the healthcare industry on edge.

While debate over the Affordable Care Act is still raging with Republicans controlling Congress and the White House, bipartisan support for MACRA and the movement away from fee-for-service models has held relatively steady.

CMS did cancel two bundled programs last year, objecting to the mandatory nature called by CMS Administrator Seema Verma as too restrictive. Providers finding success with bundling heavily criticized the move, and many worried it was a harbinger of more scaling back to come in the agency’s approach to value-based care.

This week’s announcement of the Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI-A) model suggests otherwise, though. And there are other signs the Trump administration might become a bit more open to mandatory programs. Alex Azar, the nominee for HHS secretary expected to receive approval soon, said this week he wouldn’t necessarily oppose mandatory programs if they are needed “to get adequate data.”